Tuesday, December 24, 2013

The Gifts of Christmas

We don’t have to think too hard to remember our most
precious Christmas or even our most favourite Christmas gift. I read a note
that was written to a friend of mind this morning about one such article in her
life… that very special Christmas and that very special gift. Each year millions of children gather around
Christmas trees all over the world and open those wished for items that appear
on Christmas morning. But do all children get what they wished for? No sadly,
not all children are so fortunate. Many go without for reasons as varied as
they are many.

Every Christmas we were reminded that there were so many who
were not as fortunate as we were, in one way or another. One year in particular
I had asked for an item that was very unlikely to be received. I can’t
remember if I wrote a letter to Santa or not, but I did mentioned it to my Mom
and I wished every day that I might get what I so hoped to receive.
There on Christmas morning was what I had wanted… or was it? You see I had
asked for a sword! Simple request eh! No, not all requests are simple or simply
understood, either by the person requesting or the person granting the request.
So it was that what I found happened to be a beautifully carved sword made from
a swordfish's sword. Yup! That is what it was alright! The moment I opened that
gift I was surprised, yet my heart sank. It was not something that I could
swing around and hack at branches with, fight off vicious pirates and defend some
fair maiden while in combat with her enemy. It was in fact only a decorative
piece that would one day become a symbol of the love that my Mom had for me in
giving me such an important part of local history.

The man we bought fish from was a particular friend of ours. He came
from a town nearby and visited every week and on some days stopped and chatted
over a cup of tea. Mom had asked him about a swordfish sword for me, just to
have to play with and he brought several that Dad tried to cure and prepare,
but to no avail, they all rotted and became more than nasty! He one day told Mom that he could get a real sword made by a
local craftsman that lived quite near us and so it happened that he delivered,
just before Christmas, this very special item that has become a real treasure in
my life. It was not what I expected, but something that became so precious indeed.

Gifts come in all shapes and sizes and down through the
years I have disguised them as churches, roosters and Christmas sleighs. I have
weighed them down with cans of tomato juice and one year with even a brick and a
piece of railroad track… in fact it made the gift so heavy that I nearly
strained my back trying to get it off the table, about 20 years ago. I have become
more practical of late and perhaps that is not always a good thing. And,
my wish list has changed drastically too. I get more interested in the quiet
reflective moments, even though they are hard to get. So I spend time trying to
prepare my heart and mind, looking for the joy, in why this all came about. Not
the presence of family directly, but the presence of the Christmas Season and
how it affects us as family. Have we prepared our minds, hearts and our lives
for this annual event with the right wishes and the correct expectations?

I try to be reminded every day of the value of what took
place on that first Christmas. But do I stop enough to consider and reflect on
that “very special” eve in history really? A friend reminded me that so often
we put our best foot forward for a few weeks at Christmas, choosing, wrapping
and distributing gifts, only to go back to the business of life in January and
put away the lonely, the forgotten and at times those special friends that only
become important enough to visit, during the Christmas season. A sad statement but one
that rings true more than we like to admit.

So it was on that first Christmas Eve in Bethlehem town. A people
waiting for a savior were told that what they had longed for had arrived, and
though eyes turned to a little child in a lowly manger, he was not what they
were expecting. What did they want? They wanted a king among men, who would
deliver them from the tyranny of those who cared not for their lives, but only
their money and what they could provide in slavery and trade. So while the
angels sang of the Saviour’s birth, and shepherds left their fields to see this
miracle, the Son of God fell short of their expectations and life returned to
its drudgery, and high expectations became disappointments. They could not
see the true value of what God had given them… so many today are in that same
place in life… they can not see; as they can not understand that God’s love was
so great that He came; “Emmanue”l, meaning God with us and dwelling among us.

So many gifts are also opened and then forgotten. A popular thing
to do today is “re-gift”. "Why", some would say. Well, we receive things that
serve no purpose in our lives, having no real value to us and so as a matter of course
we either discard them or we give them to someone who may be able to use them
with thanksgiving and appreciation, being able to use them where we did not. Is
that what happens to the “Greatest Gift” of all? Do we shuffle through the
traditions that may have belonged to parents, grandparents, guardians and our
communities and use them as a sort of celebratory cover for our desire to just
have another party? I pray not. Christ was the “final gift” that came with
strings attached, conveyed from the Old Testament and confirmed in the New
Testament. God’s people must humble themselves before Him and in doing so
attach themselves to him with life, desire and obedience in all we do. Yet He came as a free gift to those who would accept Him. Giving
our lives is not easy. Always desiring to go and do what He wants of us in not always
easy, and total obedience is impossible. So it is a no win situations, right? No…
Not At All! In this little child wrapped in cloths and laid in a manger was
LOVE BOTH ETERNAL AND PRESENT. When we accept this gift (like opening one on
Christmas morning) we may sometimes feel disappointment, as He was not what we
were expecting, because we do not always fully understand what it is that we
have done… we only know that He is a gift.

There are so often still the challenges that both alarm and disappoint
us, but when we have Christ he is always there. When we confess our shortcomings,
our sins and our fears, He loves us even more and forgives, because the Christ
Child became “The Christ”, the "Sacrifice for our sins". We do not use God as our
trump card, our get out of jail free card or our MasterCard to all wealth and
prosperity, but we have assurance that when we do fall and call out to Him, He
hears and picks us up again into His loving arms and shields, heals and
restores.

My wish list this year includes new eyes to see the face of
Jesus before I see anything else, new ears that I may hear His voice as he
speaks direction, affirmation and peace into my life, and a new readiness to
respond, go and do so that I will be His voice, His hands and feet in this
world. I owe a debt that I cannot pay and He has paid a debt that He did not
owe… just for me. The gifts of Christmas are not simple, they are complex, yet
not so complex that we cannot accept and then once accepting, hold them close
and dear to our hearts. They grow richer, more important and life giving as we hold them dear. Walk over to the edge of the manger and take a long
look in…. do you see Him looking at YOU?… Being near the edge here may just change your
perspective on life.

I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and
Blessed New Year!